How to Create a Custom Page in WordPress
March 28. 2023
Not only that WordPress is the best platform for SEO but there are plenty more reasons for its popularity. One of the most important ones is its ease of use, flexibility, and ability to create custom pages without having to have any coding experience or knowledge. So to help you create a custom page in WordPress and make the most of your website, we’ve consulted WordPress pros, and here’s a thorough guide that’s suitable even for beginners.
Why should you create a custom page in WordPress and how can you easily do it?
Every time you create a new page, your WordPress theme controls how that page looks using a template file, and the default page.php template affects all single pages created in WordPress. However, you may not want to use the same design every time, and certain pages, such as landing pages, require different content and design to achieve specific goals. That’s why WordPress experts advise that creating a custom page in WordPress is an excellent way to ensure that your website’s pages have a unique and professional look.
Why are custom pages important?
Let’s take landing pages as an example. They often have different content compared to regular pages, such as a large hero image or a call to action (CTA) which are designed to help drive conversions. So in order to achieve this, landing pages often look completely different from the rest of your website. However, trying to create unique designs using the standard page template can be quite time-consuming and difficult. This is especially true if you’re not familiar with HTML or CSS. Moreover, and may not be able to achieve the exact design you want due to template limitations.
This can make it difficult to get good results, as you may not be able to create a page that meets your specific needs. For example, if you’re building a sales page, you need to ensure that it is engaging, persuasive, and has a clear call-to-action that drives conversions. If you’re using a standard page template, it may not be optimized for conversion. This means you probably won’t get the results you’re hoping for.
Creating a custom page template can help you prevent frustrations, overcome these obstacles and achieve your goals. By creating a custom page template, you can create a page that looks and functions exactly how you want it to, without any limitations. This allows you to take complete control over the design, layout, and content of your page. You can customize your page template to include custom fields, add multimedia elements, and include specific scripts and stylesheets to achieve your desired result.
Four ways to create a custom page in WordPress.
Now that you know why it’s important to present unique pages on your website, let’s find out how to create a custom page in WordPress and give your website a professional and unique look.
Use the Block Editor
The simplest way to create a custom page is to use the block editor. This way, you can easily create templates with the familiar tools that you already know how to use. However, note that this method only works with block-enabled themes. If it doesn’t work with your theme, then using a page builder is a better alternative.
To create a custom template in WordPress, first, open any page or post, then go to the ‘Page’ tab in the right-hand menu and expand the ‘Template’ section. From there, you can create a new template by clicking on the ‘New’ link. Then, a popup will appear where you can type in a name for your template.
The template editor works similarly to the standard block editor, allowing you to add blocks to your design by clicking on the blue ‘+’ button. You can also add WordPress block patterns to your design. Once you’re happy with your custom template, you can publish and save it, and then apply it to any page you want to create a completely custom page in WordPress.
Use the SeedProd plugin
Creating custom pages on WordPress used to involve writing code. However, if you’re a beginner, this can be quite challenging. SeedProd offers a solution as the best drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress with more than 180 templates that make creating custom pages easy. For instance, you can use it to improve your 404-page template and so much more.
We highly recommend SeedProd plugin since it has more templates and integrates with popular email marketing services. After installation and activation of SeedProd, you can select a template, and customize and add blocks to create your page. SeedProd also offers ‘Sections,’ rows, and block templates that can help you create your custom page faster. Use drag and drop to rearrange the sections and blocks, add new blocks, and undo changes. It’s really as simple as that!
Use the Beaver Builder
Another plugin you can use to make custom pages in WordPress is Beaver Builder. There is a free version you can use, however, the pro one has plenty more features and it’s worth the cost. Once you install and activate this plugin, head to Pages » Add New in your WordPress dashboard and click the ‘Launch Beaver Builder‘ button.
The Beaver Builder editor will open. Use the menu on the right to add different modules and rows to your custom page. You can also start with a pre-built template and make changes as needed. After making your edits, click on ‘Done’ and save your post as a draft or publish it to your website.
Create a custom page in WordPress using a code
Lastly, if you want to create a custom page in WordPress without installing a new plugin, you can create a custom page template manually. To do this, open a plain text editor and add the line of code you see below at the top of the file.
<?php /* Template Name: CustomPageT1 */ ?>
This tells WordPress that this is a template file called ‘CustomPageT1.’ Then, add all the code for the custom page layout, which can include HTML, template tags, and PHP code. You can even copy and paste the code from the existing page.php template in your theme’s folder, but make sure not to copy the header text.
After creating your custom template file, save it with a .php extension and upload it to your theme’s directory. You can then select this template for any new or existing page in the WordPress dashboard. Finally, edit the page as usual and publish it when you’re ready to make it live on your site. However, we do have to mention again that, if you’re a WordPress beginner, you should avoid this method.
The bottom line
Even if you’re just starting your website and you lack WordPress experience, you can see it’s quite simple to create a custom page in WordPress. However, you can always reach out to an experienced team of WordPress experts who can help you get started. But they won’t do just that – they’ll provide you with full-time support specifically tailored to your website’s needs. They’ll make sure your website is always running at its full capacity so you can relax and focus on other areas of your business.